Relief and intaglio printing press.



H. A. W. WOOD.

BELIEF AND INTAGLIO PRINTING PRESS; APPLICATION FILED DED.27, 1906:RENEWED AUG. 25, 1911.

1,096,483, Patented May 12,1914

2 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

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RELIEF AND INTAGLIO PRINTING PRESS.

APPLICATION FILED DBO. 27, 1906. RENEWED 11116.25, 1911.

1,096,483. Patented y 12, 1914'.

2 SHBBTBSHEET 2.

mm M MMJLEZZZ UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

HENRY A. WISE WOOD, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR, BY MESNE ASSIGNMENTS,TO WOOD & NATHAN COMPANY, OF NEW YORK, N. Y., A CORPORATION OF NEW YORK.

RELIEF AND INTAGLIO PRINTING PRESS.

Patented May 12, 1914.

Application filed December 27, 1906, Serial No. 349,717. Renewed August25, 1911. Serial No. 646,036.

I '0 altar-710m it may concern:

,Be it known that I, Ill-inn); A. V1815 ll'oon, a citizen of the UnitedStates, residing at NeuwYor-k, in the county of New York and State ofNew York, have invented a new and useful Relief and Intaglio PrintingPress, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to a printing system in which relief and intaglioprinting can be done in the same machine preferably substantiallysimultaneously.

-ls is well-known, intaglio rinting has pesitivc advantages for work wiich requires great depth of color with much variety of tone and minutegradations of the same, but by that process letter-press work isimpractical, so letter-press work is usually done by the relief process,but the results'to be obtained by intaglio printing are beyond itscapabilities. 7

To provide a practical and cfiicicnt way of combining the excellenciesof both systems of printing is the principal aim of this invention. Toaccomplish this result an intaglio printing member may be caused to workdirectly in contact with an impression member of a relief press, theimpression member receiving impressions first from one printing memberand then from the other.

In rotary presses, the impression and relief cylinders are preferablymadeof' the same diameter and the intaglio cylinder either of the samediameter or smaller so that the circumferences of the impression andrelief cylinders are a multiple of that of the intaglio cylinder. Theintaglio cylinder is interchangeable so that the full sized orthe'smallcr one may be put into position; consequently, its ink fountainis made adjustable and preferably removable so that it can be used witheither sized cylinders.

For the purpose of compensating for differenccs in diameter of theintaglio cylinder due to the taking off of the surface to enable it toreceive successive etchings or engravings, means is provided forpermitting a circumferential yielding of this cylinder or of theiuu'n-essiou cylinder. A construction is also provided to cause. thelast printed side of the web. which is usually handsomely illustrated,to run in such a way as to not come into contact wit the'turning roll orthe roll at the head of the former.

This invention is designed to accomplish all these objects and securethese advantages and further ones which will appear hereinafter.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying two sheets of drawings whichconstitute a part of this specification, and illustrate practical waysof carrying out the inventions and in which Figure 1 is a longitudinalsectional ricw of a rotary web press supplied with intaglio printing,cylinders, in accordance with this invention. Figs. 2 and 3 are similarviews showing methods of carrying out the invention on presses of asomewhat different type. Fig. 1 is a front elevation of an impressionand cooperating intaglio cylinder. Figs. 5 and 6 are sectional views ofthe same on the line 6 of Fig. 4, and Fig. .7 is a. sectional view ofthe same on the line 7 of Fig. 4.

In newspaper presses the cylinders are adapted to take two platescircumferentially, these plates usually being duplicates of each other,so that when various webs from the same press are associated, eachsection cut therefrom will represent a paper which is in every respectsimilar to the one ahead, and to the one behind it. But printing pressfolders are so arranged that the circu1nferential product of a cylindermay be collected if need be so that the pages printed by onecircumferentialhalf of the cylinder may be imposed upon the pagesprinted by the other circumferential half of the same cylinder, thusmaking a product of double the number of pages. Bythe first plan it isnecessary to repeat illustrations when used upon each circumferentialhalf of the plate cylinders, while by the second plan one set ofillustrations may be carried by one half and. the other by the otherhalf of the plate cylinder. function by the use of the presentinvention, the intaglio printing cylinder is made equal in circumferenceto the relief printing cylinder, each of said cylinders carryingcircumferentially two plates or the equivalent thereof. The same design.of course, may be repeated on the intaglio cylinder by having itengraved upon both of the circumferential halves thereof and thus adaptit to daplicate products. but this makes double etching which is slowand expensive. In order to avoid this, the intaglio cylinder may be madeofhalf the circumference of the relief cylinder when the machine is toIn order to perform this latter be used with a design repeated for bothhalves. The half size intaglio cylinder, therefore, makes a revolutionfor each half of the impression cylinder. When it is necessary,however,-to print separate designs upon each half a full size intagliocylinder is put in, but in all cases the circumference of the reliefcylinder as well as that of the impression cylinder is substantially ainulti-' ple of that of the intaglio cylinder. The intaglio cylinder andits inking and surface cleanin devices are made removable and also adustable so that when a cylinder of a different size is used, the inkingand cleaning arrangements may be properly adjusted to receive and serveit.

Intaglio printing cylinders are made in the form of copper shells,usually about a half inch thick. As the intaglio printing cylinder andthe impression cylinder are run together, and must maintain the samesurface velocity, they have had to be accurately fixed in diameter. Asthese copper cylinders are quite expensive and as there is a great lossin remelting them, I have provided means whereby they can be used seweral times, the etched or engraved surfaces being successively removedand a new design etched or engraved on the smooth surface. This resultsin a gradual reduction in diameter on the intaglio cylinder whichtherefore increasingly drags upon the impression cylinder against whichit works. While heretofore this has not prevented the repeated use of acylinder, it has necessitated the abandonment of it with great lossafter it has been used three or four times only. For the purpose ofreducing this loss and permitting the use of the copper shell agreaternumber-of times, I have provided a. yielding connection between eitherthe in taglio cylinder or the impression cylinder and itsv shaft,whereby the impression cylinder may cause the intaglio cylinder eventhough greatly reduced in diameter to rotate with it at the samecircumferential velocity until a gap in theimpression cylinder isreached, when the yielding means will bring the yielding cylinder backinto proper position with relation to its shaft.

In this way illustrated during each revolution of the impressioncylinder, which has two gaps, the printing cylinder will return twice toproper position and almost the entire thickness of the copper shell canbe used before it is abandoned.

In order to prevent the last printed side of the web from coming intocontact with the turning roll or the roll at the head of the former, theweb is taken from the last impression cylinder in a direction contraryto what has usually been the case, Two ink supplies may, of course, beused, each touching its own surface to be supplied, or one that is,operatable' to both; any ordinary are shown two relief printing plates6 in accordance with the usual construction. Suitable inking mechanism,f isalso indicated. The web passes from the web roll 9 around guiderollers it over theimpression cylinder 7) in contact with the plateson-t-he printing cylinder 0, then around the impression cylinder 0 incontact with the plates on the printing cylinder (Z in the usualway, butthe relief plates are so constructed that while all the type and otherdesired portions are in relief as usual, those parts which wouldordinarily be provided. with a surface for printing illustrations,which. it is desired to print in a more artisticway than can be donewith relief printing, are left blank, and additional cylinders 70 and mare provided on which are mounted 'intaglio plates or tubes at havingthe desired designs thereon located to register, of course. with theblank spaces on the relief plates. In the form indicated in this figure,each of the intaglio cylinders is ofa diameter equal to one-half of thatof the relief printing cylinder, and it is, of course, timed to make acomplete revolution during a half revelution of the reliefcylinder. Withthis conpeated for the two impressions, obtained from therelief'plate's, and, therefore, there I will be two sets of imprintswhich will have the intaglio portion thereof .in duplicate, and whichordinarily will also have the relief in duplicate, as the two reliefplates are normally thesame. It is to be noted that the 'intag'liocylinders are loc'atedbe'neath or at one, side of, the impressioneylindersso that/the ink which drips therefrom will notj. co;me' intocontact with the impression cylinders. The intaglio cylinders aresupplied with ink; from fountains o beneath them these foun tains beingin the present instance pro vided with rollers 79, and cleaning bladesor other devicesq being employed in the usual way. The fountainsandcleaning devices are mounted below or at one'side of the-intagliocylinders so that the fountains will receive the drip therefrom and noink will be discharged on the impression cylinders. A preferableposition is to have the intaglio cylinders below the horizontal diameterof the impression cylinders and their inking devices below thehorizontal diameters of the intaglio cylinders.

In order that each of the intaglio cylinders k may be replaced by acylmder of a different diameter, the fountains 0 are made adjustable andwith them the rolls and cleaning devices 9. As shown in h ig. 1, theyare mounted on a frame 7- and can be moved up and down in slots 3therein. This figure shows these parts in dotted lines in position toreceive a larger intaglio cylinder k.- Also in this figure, it will beseen that the web passes over the roll it to the left in order that itslast printed side, which is usually handsomely illustrated, will be onthe outside and when run over the former will not have to come incontact with the roll at the head thereof or with the turning roll, thusbetter preserving the effect of the printing on this side of the sheet.

In the construction represented in Fig. 2, an ordinary type of press isprovided with a single intaglio cylinder is so that the illustrationswill appear on one side of the sheet only. \Vhen the circumferentialproduct of the plate cylinder is to be collected as shown the intagliocylinder 7c is made equal in diameter to the plate cylinder-a so that aseparate set of illustrations may be printed upon each half of thecylinder. The cylinder k is shown as provided with printing tube nhaving two intaglio designs thereon. In Fig. 3 is illustrated anothertype of press in which a half sized intaglio cylinder 7.: is shown inconnection with an impression cylinder Z) and in connection with animpression cylinder 0 is shown a full sized intaglio cylinder h. It maybe considered that the change from one size intaglio cylinder to theother is only partly accomplished in the form shown in this gure.

In other forms, and in fact in any form in which the invention may beembodied, it is preferable that the fountain, the intaglio printingcylinder, and its late all be removable either endwise or sidewise, sothat the press may be runwithout them, and so that they can be changedas may be desired.

Figs. 4, 5, 6 and 7 illustrate the yielding connection between theintaglio cylinder and its shaft. The impression cylinder 1) is shown inthis invention as fixed to its shaft on which is a gear toperating agear u on a shaft '0 on which the/intaglio cylinder 71: is looselymounted. The intaglio cylinder is provided with a lug or stop w adaptedto engage a lug or stop a: on the gear u and this is the only positiveconnection between the intaglio cylinder and its ear. A spring 1) of anydesired form yiel ingly connects these two elements. Now, it will beseen that while the intaglio cylinder runs in contact with theimpression cylinder'if it is of a smaller diameter than the impressioncylinder, ,or if the latter is not an exact multiple of the intagliocylinder on account of the turning down of the surface of the intaglioshell, it will remain in proper registration with the impressioncylinder, its lug w gradually drawing away from the lug a). The spring'1) opposes this action but is not strong enough to prevent it. Now,when a gap 2 in the impressioncylinder comes into such position as torelieve the intaglio cylinder from pressure as shown in Fig. 6, thespring will be free to act to return the intaglio cylinder to suchposition that the two lugs to and as will again engage and the twocylinders will then be in proper relation with each other, the intagliocylinder and its gear being in exactly the same relative position asthey would be if they were positively connected together. At this timethe lugs or stops do form a positive connection between these elements.This will occur twice during each revolution of the impres sion cylinderand thus permit the use of the cylinder or shell after it has beenmaterially turned down so that it is of much less diameterthan itoriginally was. A similar operation will take lace when the impressioncylinder is yiel ingly mounted instead of the intaglio cylinder. Ineither case the couple may be driven through the plate cylinder gear, orthrough the impression cylinder ear.

ile I have illustrated and described special forms in which theinvention may be embodied, I am aware that it can be practiced in manyother ways without departing from the spirit of the invention asexpressed in the claims. Therefore, I do not wish to be limited to theparticular mechanism shown, or to the particular types of printingpresses referred to, but

What I do claim is 2- 1. In a rotary web printing press, the combinationof a complete impression cylinder, a complete relief printing cylinderof the same diameter adapted to contact therewith, and a completeintaglio printing cylinder arranged to contact with the impressioncylinder while the relief printing cylinder is in contact with theimpression cylinder, the circumference of the relief printing cylinderbeing substantially a multiple of that of the intaglio cylinder.

2. In a printing press, the combination of an intaglio printing couplethe circumference of one member of which is a multiple of that of theother, with a relief printing member, the circumference of which is thesame multiple of that of the intaglio cylinder, said intaglio and reliefcylinders being in contact with the impression cylinder at the sametime, means for continuouslv rotating both of the printing cylinders,and means for directing a sheet or web first between the impressioncylinder and the intaglio printing cylinder, and then between theimpression cylinder and the relief printing cyllief printing cylinder.

3. In a printing press, the combination of a relief cylinder adapted tocarry a plurality 4:. In a printing press, the combination of a reliefcylinder adapted to carry a plurality of relief plates, an impressioncylinder, an intaglio cylinder, said relief and intaglio cylinders beingadapted to contact with the impression cylinder at the same time, theintaglio cylinder having a circumference equal to half the circumferenceof the relief cylinder, means arranged substantially at a lower levelthan the horizontal diameter of the relief cylinder for supply ing theintaglio cylinder with ink and being arranged below the impressioncylinder,

and a cleaning device forthe intaglio cylin- 5. In a printing press, thecombination with a relief printing couple of interchangeable intagliocylinders of different diameters adapted to contact with the impressionmember thereof and an inking deviceadjustable toward and from theimpression cylinder to accommodate the difierent intaglio cylinders.

6. In a rotary web printing press, the combination with a reliefprinting couple, both members of which arecomplete cylinders of likediameter, of a complete in taglio printing cylinder mounted adjacent tothe impression member of said couple, and operating in conjunctiontherewith, the designs being distributed throughout the surface of theintaglio cylinder,and the relief cylinder having blanks on its surfacesto correspond with the designs on the intaglio cylinder.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto set my hand, in the presence of twosubscribing witnesses.

H. A. WISE WOOD. VVit-nesses ANNIE B. WALTERS, MARY E. MCOADDEN.

